ENGLEWOOD, Colo. – With half an hour to spare before deadline, Elvis Dumervil had agreed to take a pay cut and remain with the Denver Broncos. But the Broncos did not receive Dumervil's signed contract via fax until six minutes after the 4 p.m. Eastern deadline had passed, a person with knowledge of the situation told USA TODAY Sports.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the team has not announced the move.

The Broncos instead filed the paperwork to release the Pro Bowl defensive end because Dumervil's $12 million would have been guaranteed if he was on the roster after the deadline.

Dumervil fired his agent Marty Magid and has already hired a new agent (Tom Condon). Usually a player has to wait five days to hire a new agent, however Magid has agreed to waive a five-day waiting period so Dumervil could hire another agent today.

Dumervil fired his agent Marty Magid and has already hired a new agent (Tom Condon). Usually a player has to wait five days to hire a new agent, however Magid has agreed to waive a five-day waiting period so Dumervil could hire another agent today.

Well, one thing about this story, you can tell who has a job and who doesn't by the reaction to the fax machine bit in the comment section of any sports blog.

I'm not sure who clowned who in this, but I'm thinking Doom and his agent tried to pull a fast one on Elway.

I was laughing to some extent over all the comments about fax machines and the proces being so outdated. Im not sure how many faxes are sent/recd out of each of my eight offices everyday but its a lot.

I was laughing to some extent over all the comments about fax machines and the proces being so outdated. Im not sure how many faxes are sent/recd out of each of my eight offices everyday but its a lot.

I promise you, the organization wouldn't have tripped over technical issues had it been Von Miller.

I don't think you read all the news, Playoffs.

There was NO ultimatum.

Think like this; if there was an Ultimatum, it would have been real easy.
All the Broncos needed to do was to set an early deadline; two or three days in advance.

There was room for negotiation, thus the back-and-forth of swapping revisions.
The Broncos final offer was to guarantee $3.5M for injury and injury only in 2014.
It was sent to Dumervil's agent only a few hours before the NFL deadline (to have all the paperwork in their office, and not the Broncos office.)

The Broncos botched that one.

Like I said, I would have set an earlier deadline to pull the plug on negotiation; not half a day before, not a few hours before, and especially not an hour before.

It was sent to Dumervil's agent only a few hours before the NFL deadline (to have all the paperwork in their office, and not the Broncos office.)

The Broncos botched that one.

Like I said, I would have set an earlier deadline to pull the plug on negotiation; not half a day before, not a few hours before, and especially not an hour before.

I thought I read that it was sent to Dumervil's agent 30 minutes before the deadline. There's enough blame to go around on this one, I think. The Broncos shouldn't have sent it that late and even so, Dumervil's agent should have been waiting by the fax with Elway on the phone going "WHERE IS IT WHERE IS IT!!!???"

Basically, he said that as an organization, you have to make sure that everything is lined up where you want it, with enough time to spare, since you don't have a time-out left, such that you can trot the FG unit out there comfortably to attempt the last-minute FG.